1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wheel cap for an Automobile, and particularly relates to the wheel cap provided with a flexible annular molding around a body of the wheel cap.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Conventionally, there has been provided a wheel cap for an automobile, which has a rigid wheel cap body whose size is so designed that the peripheral surface thereof does not contact the side surface of the tire in order to prevent the wheel cap from falling off the wheel of the tire when the tire rides over a curbstone and its outside face swells during driving, for example, and a flexible annular molding fitted around the periphery of the wheel cap body. This type of wheel cap is prevented from being disengaged from the wheel of the tire by absorbing the swelling of the outside surface of the tire by the elastic deformation of the annular molding.
With this type of the wheel cap, it is necessary to securely fix the annular molding to the wheel cap body in order to prevent their disengagement from each other. For example, a wheel cap with a construction to securely fix the flexible annular molding to the rigid wheel cap body is presented in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 06-050901 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,406): the wheel cap has a flexible annular molding which has an engaging projection, with a constricted part at its root, extending inside from its radially inward peripheral edge part, and a rigid wheel cap body with a through-hole into which the engaging projection of the flexible annular molding is inserted with a pressure so that the constricted part thereof is engaged with the through-hole of the rigid wheel cap body to fix the flexible annular molding to the rigid wheel cap body.
With this construction, however, the wheel cap body becomes unattractive when the flexible annular molding is detached therefrom, for example, if the flexible annular molding is damaged and replaced with a new one, because the through-hole made in the wheel cap body is exposed outside. Therefore, it is desirable that the appearance of the wheel cap body is not spoiled when the flexible annular molding is detached from the wheel cap body.